Ayanna Pressley Will Be the First Black Woman to Represent Massachusetts in Congress

Ayanna Pressley has won her election, making her the first black woman to represent Massachusetts in the House of Representatives, Boston.com reports. She ran unopposed in Massachusetts's 7th district.

Before the polls closed on election day, she urged people on Twitter to vote. "Today, we are powerful. There are only a few hours left to get out the vote. Go #vote for progressive candidates who will fight for equity & justice," she Tweeted. "Vote for activist leaders who will work in and with community. Vote, because this is your democracy & your voice matters."

In a stunning political upset, Ayanna Pressley, a Boston city councilor who could become Massachusetts first black congresswoman, beat 10-term incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano during the state’s primary on Tuesday, September 4, as reported by local ABC affiliate WCVB 5.

The moment she discovered she won was caught on camera by one of her aides. “Oh my God,” she repeats over and over again, before slowly standing up and giving hugs to the people around her.

Pressley, 44, is being scored as one of the shining stars of the more progressive, younger and diverse Democratic Party placing her in the company of other progressive challengers who have dominated at the polls against veteran politicians. She’s joining the ranks of Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the 28-year-old Democratic Socialist who won a similar upset victory against a long-time incumbent in the Democratic primary in New York’s 14th District this summer. Pressley, like the others in this new group of predominantly women of color each promotes a platform of Medicare-for-all and calls to abolishImmigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Pressley’s win marked the fourth time an incumbent lost a primary election this year, according to The Hill.

“Apparently the district just is very upset with lots of things that are going on,” Capuano said after his defeat, according to WCVB. “I don't blame them. I'm just as upset as they are, but so be it. This is the way life goes.”

Pressley is now running to represent Massachusetts’ 7th congressional district, the only district in the state where minorities comprise a majority of the population, according to WCVB. And she’s all but certain the seat in November since there were no Republicans on the ticket in Tuesday's nominating primary, according to Business Insider. In fact, polls predict that all House of Representative seats up for grabs in Massachusetts will remain Democratic.

Democrats will have to pick up 23 seats in the House of Representatives and two in the Senate in November, according to Business Insider, if they want to gain a majority to counter President Trump’s agenda — that is a fight Pressley is happy to take on.

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“While our president is a racist, misogynistic, truly empathy-bankrupt man, the conditions which have made the 7th one of the most unequal in America were cemented through policies long before he ever descended the escalator at Trump Tower,” Pressley said in her victory speech . “In fact, some of those policies were put in place with Democrats in the White House and in control of our Congress. Policies that have become so ingrained in our daily lives as to have almost convinced ourselves that there wasn’t anything we could do about them. But as we now know, change can’t wait.”